Chandannagar

Chandannagar, formerly spelled as Chandernagore (Bengali: চন্দননগর Chôndônnôgôr, French: Chandernagor), is a Corporation city and former French colony located 35 kilometers (22 mi) north of Kolkata, in West Bengal, India. It is headquarters of a subdivision in Hooghly District. It is one of the 7 municipal corporations in West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. Located on the Hooghly River, the city has been able to maintain a separate identity different from all other cities and abide by her own characteristics. The total area is 19 square kilometers (7.3 sq mi), and had a population of 166,867 at the 2011 Census. Chandannagar is connected to Kolkata by railway, roadways and river and it takes about an hour to reach there by car.

Origin of name of chandannagar

The name Chandannagar is possibly derived from the shape of the bank of the river Ganges which is bent like a half moon (in Bengali, Chand means moon and Nagar implies city). In some old documents the spelling of Chandannagar was Chandernagore which probably came from Chandra Nagar. To mention, Chandra is the Bengali of Moon. Others believe it might have been taken from the flourishing trade and business of sandal wood (Bengali:Chandan) at that time. One more reason behind the name is, in Chandernagore there is a temple of Goddess 'Chandi'. So it might come from there. But earlier people knew the place by the name Farasdanga as it was a French colony (Bengali: Farasi means French, danga means land).